Quezon City Bikes for Clean Air

To dramatize how mobility is possible without releasing harmful emissions, the Firefly Brigade partnered with the Quezon City Government to host this year’s Summer Cycling Convergence: Festival of the Fireflies last Sunday, April 26, 2015, at the Quezon Memorial Circle (QMC).

The Firefly Brigade is a Philippines citizen’s action group formed in 1999 to work for clean air and a habitable, people-friendly environment in our cities. It is an NGO that promotes the use of the bicycle for clean air and sustainable communities.

Quezon City Mayor Herbert M. Bautista opened the event and underscored the fact that the city government’s consistent support for the advocacy of the bikers is a component of its aggressive and comprehensive campaign against climate change. He talked of the local government’s plan to develop ‘green routes’ and integrate these into the comprehensive development plan of the city.

He ordered the LGU’s Department ofPublic Order and Safety, to work with the City’s councilors, as well as the City Planning and Development Office and the Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department, to identify and plan more dedicated bike lanes in more parts of the city. For best results, the city’s efforts should be complemented by support from the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Department of Public Works and Highways.

He accepted the challenge of the Firefly Brigade founder and president, Katti Sta. Ana, in the NGO’s petition for Quezon City to promote bicycling as an environmentally sustainable and people-oriented method of transportation. Immediately, he instructed coordination between the city’s departments and Ms. Sta. Ana’s group, to properly determine and respond to the needs of the bikers.

Earth Day Network Philippines Country Coordinator Isagani Serrano said that promoting biking was one of the advocacies promoted at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference for Sustainable Development in Brazil in 2012, as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fuel-powered transport. This shows how global this movement is.

To provide security to bikers, the group donated a bicycle rack at the QMC, as an initial step to install more such racks inside the park.